Providing students with the ability to prepare snacks and meals will increase their quality of life by allowing them to be more independent. Using Boardmaker, a picture recipe can be made to show each step, along with what ingredients to use. Having the pictures will assist students who are unable to read or unable to understand the meaning. As students become more familiar with what each picture means, more complicated recipes can be introduced.
Social stories are another functional idea for using Boardmaker. Social stories are simple books that demonstrate how to behave in a social setting. They often help students who are performing behaviors that are inappropriate in certain situations. Breaking these social situations down with the simple pictures that Boardmaker provides can help these students understand exactly which steps they need to take to successfully navigate these complicated situations. One example of a social story using Boardmaker pictures could be about how a student should act when she meets someone new. It can have pictures of shaking hands or waving. It can also explain what not to do when you do not know someone, such as hugging.
Sorting is the basis for many academic skills. Categorizing also demonstrates an understanding of concepts when objects can be divided by specific attributes. Using Boardmaker, a teacher is able to use simple pictures and have the students sort in a variety of ways. The pictures can be cut out and then placed with the correct headings. The physical abilities of the students will determine the complexity of the activity.
Because of the simple pictures of Boardmaker, a variety of game boards can be made to help students develop a better understanding of concepts. Simple games such as Bingo and Go Fish can be made using Boardmaker software. Because the pieces to the game will likely be used multiple times, laminating the pictures can make damaging them more difficult. Also, since Boardmaker has multiple choices for pictures of each word, the difficulty of the games can be adjusted as the students become more familiar with concepts.